Pagerwesi Feast Day, Good to Get Closer to Gods

14 May 2019

ON Wednesday (May 15) is the Pagerwesi feast day falling every 210 days, precisely on Buda Kliwon wuku Sinta in accordance with Balinese calendar. Pagerwesi is derived from the roots pagar means ‘fences’ and besi means ‘iron.’ Overall, it is defined as something fenced in order to remain strong and protect the most valuable things in us by carrying out the Pagerwesi ceremony. That is why on Pagerwesi Day is the best day to get closer to the Gods, God Almighty.

In the celebration, Sang Hyang Pramesti Guru or the manifestation of God is worshipped as the teacher of human and universe. Actually, the knowledge of Sanghyang Pramesti Guru called Pagerwesi can be owned by every follower of Him. Someone who has knowledge of God will get happiness in the world and in the hereafter.

Implementation of Pagerwesi is a worship of God as a true teacher that can fill us with true knowledge and holiness. Pagerwesi is a series of Saraswati Day (May 11), where the day is believed to be the day of the descent of science to protect human beings from ignorance.

Living without a teacher is the same as living without a guide. With the presence of teacher, we can know what to do and what not to do. Conversely, without a teacher we can lose direction and purpose so the actions can be misguided.

Pagerwesi celebration

On the Pagerwesi Day, all offices, both government services and schools, are always on holiday.

In the Sunarigama palm-leaf manuscript, Pagerwesi is called the Prayoga of Ida Bhatara Pramesti Guru or it can also be said as Teacher’s Day or in India known as Guru Purnima or the worship of teacher. However, the teacher (guru) specified here are not onlyguru pengajian or teachers that teach at schools but also include guru rupaka (parents), guru wisesa (government) and guru swadyaya(God).

On Pagerwesi, the teachers are given the opportunity to perform rituals and purify their knowledge in order to be given to their students on the following day. Here, the students are not only referred to students at schools, but also the general public.

We must always respect to our teachers because they play an important role in saving humanity from the brink of evil. On that account, in Hinduism, the day of worship of the teacher is given specifically, namely on the Pagerwesi. Have a nice day to celebrate Pagerwesi Day!